On the 5th, the court issued an arrest warrant for witness attendance for former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and imposed fines of 5 million won. Lee was scheduled to appear as a witness that day at the trial of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on charges including aiding insurrection but did not come to court.
The Criminal Agreement Division 33 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Lee Jin-gwan) held a continued hearing that day in the case against the former prime minister on charges of aiding the ringleader of an insurrection, engaging in important duties related to insurrection, and perjury.
The court had planned to conduct examination of witnesses that day for former Minister Lee and former Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok. However, both failed to appear for the trial.
Lee submitted a written statement explaining his absence to the court, saying, "After 5 p.m. on the previous day (the 4th) I received notice of the witness summons, leaving little time to prepare for the examination of witnesses."
However, the court said, "The content submitted by witness Lee Sang-min does not constitute a legitimate reason for absence," and added, "We will impose fines of 5 million won and issue an arrest warrant for witness attendance." The court reset the examination of witnesses for the former Minister to the 19th.
In the case of former Minister Choi, it was confirmed that the subpoena had not been served, so the court decided to send it again. The court reset the summons for former Minister Choi to the 17th.
The court said, "If a witness fails to appear, we will not necessarily take the same measures in every case," adding, "We will handle it differently, considering who the witness is and what reasons there are."